Two Full Days on the Mighty Miss

Rick said it was important for everyone to know that we actually have 90 gallons of gas for our trip.  This part of the trip is very interesting and we have learned a great deal.  Today we met 19 tows and had 1 pass us.  We have learned the river lingo of "southbound pleasure boat at (mile marker) seeing northbound tow, where do you want us?"  The response will be "hang to the black (green markers) or possibly 1 whistle, which means that we should meet left to left, or bow to bow.  I have a little problem with this, but I'm getting better.

Rick sometimes has me use the marine radio because someone told him that tows respond better to women than men.  I can honestly say, we have not found that to be the case, but I still talk on the radio. 

We spent our first night out tied up along the Kaskaskia River Lock and Dam.  We were there with 4 other boats.  These four are big sail boats and most of us have similar destinations.  Two are heading to the Bahamas for the winter.  Another is heading home to Louisianna and I am a little unsure about the other boat as they do not talk as much.  One of the men heading to the Bahamas is the past Special Education Director in Minneapolis AND NO we do not talk shop.  Actually, we have visited more with his wife, who also was a teacher. 

We all spent Thursday night in what I would describe as a little cove south of Cape Girardeau.  Of course we were all anchored so there wasn't much communication.  It is nice to be with other boats just in case there are problems.  The above pontoon was full of party people who were out enjoying the 90 degree weather.  When the sun went down, the warm weather left us. 

Our highs are to be in the low 70's today and the night time is to be very cold.  No electricity means no heat for us!  It does mean we will use the oven or stove for some warmth.

We were the last to leave the cove this morning.  We had some trouble getting our anchors up.  It was one muddy mess.  A giant tow was crossing our path so we waited for reentry to the river.  We entered into extremely turbulent waters.  At one point the front of the boat got pushed under and it was very scary.  In fact, I've only been this afraid twice before when boating.  One was in 1993 during a storm at Lake of the Ozarks, and the other just happened last summer on our old pontoon.  I did pull out the life jackets but thankfully, we did not need them.  Luckily, we did not lose anything from the front of the boat and the good thing was that it cleaned off the muddy mess from the anchors!

We are far behind the others and a little unsure where we anchor tonight.  I am looking forward to finding a dock/marina again in a few days. 

Today there is a great deal of wind and thankfully it is from the north.  This means we are currently running at a speed of 8.9 mph.  We have one more "rough spot" on the Mississippi and then we will begin fighting the current on the Ohio.  We were once told the current was very strong and the locks were all open, however last night we called and were told it is not very strong.  We are hoping the latest news was correct. 

Take care everyone and have a great weekend.



Eventful weekend/How the Mighty Mississippi has changed!

The weekend was nothing as we planned but very nice indeed.  Our Chenoa family didn't make it to the river which was a dissappointment. We were lucky, however, to have plenty of time to enjoy our St. Louis family and the Alton Marina.
Sunday afternoon Rick took Becki, Justin and my dad for a little trip up the river.  It gave me the opportunity to see them travel along as I stayed on shore with my mother.  She truly has no love for water or boats.

This is a shot of all of them going under the Alton bridge to the marina.  We had cool, sunny weather for the weekend and couldn't have enjoyed it anymore. We made plans for my dad and brother to travel with us from Alton to St. Louis on Monday.  Most of the other boaters we met were travelling to Hoppies on Monday, but we thought it would be neat to stay in downtown St. Louis. HA!

Monday included two locks and the Chain of Rocks Canal.  The canal is about 10 miles long and all boats are required to travel through it.

 The first lock was open but it certainly gave us some trouble.  The wind was strong and Rick had difficulty getting me close enough to throw the rope over the bollard.  We ended up floating in the lock which meant we had to keep the motor on most of the time to avoid all the crap floating inside.  Luckily the other lock was much easier for us.  It did give my dad and brother a chance to see how different locks can be from one another.  It also gave us all a chance to see how the river changes in the St. Louis area. 

Once the Missouri joins in, the nice water is basically gone.  There is all sorts of garbage and it becomes VERY COMMERCIAL.  There was a tremendous amount of activity on the water and the wind was very strong.  We heard on the marine radio about how boats were getting blown around and barges were having trouble in the locks.  We were lucky we had gotten an early start.

It was exciting passing the St. Louis riverfront in our own boat and we were anticipating taking a walk in the evening.  As it turned out, this dock was not quite the Hilton of the river.  It is the only place to park a recreational boat in the downtown area and it is certainly not in a "walk around at night" area!  It was a gated area and an easy place for Becki to stop after work and pick up our day riders.  She affirmed our suspicions that we should remain on the boat rather than leave for a downtown adventure.  She also brought us a few more supplies for the rest of our journey.

We did get up early on Tuesday to leave this area and get to Kimmswick where Hoppies Marina is located.  Hoppies is the final marina to have electricity, get gas, ice, etc. for the next 250-270 miles of our journey. When we arrived we were greeted by Fern and Hoppie.  They helped us dock, gas up and told us to attend the evening meeting at 4:30 for information about our future journey.

There were about 6 boats waiting to take off on the journey and most people attended the meeting. 

One couple had been docked since Friday waiting for a part.  He said that he heard the lecture 4 times and learned something new each time.  She gave us all the info. for handling the strong current of the river, how to communicate with the barges, hazards to avoid, places to dock/not dock and basic survival tips.  They have run this marina for over 30 years and Hoppies father ran it before them.

Our plan was to have Tony and Judy ride with us for another day trip.  We had called St. Genevieve and they told us about a ramp we could use to tie up for loading.  Hoppie and Fern couldn't place anywhere that this would work and we should have listened to them.  Instead, we spent a couple of hours in the cars looking for an unloading spot.  We finally called it quits and returned to our boat for just a fun evening of visiting.

We all did pretty good sleeping the boat.  Judy said we all snore, so she must have been the last one awake.  She did enjoy the rocking of the boat.  Rick and I have said that all along the trip.  The rocking is comforting when we are out of the way of barges.







We have now travelled 10 miles since leaving the Richars at Hoppies.  We travel much faster since the current is stronger. We are running at speed of 8 miles an hour.  We have 45.5 gallons of gas ($4.11 per gallon) and our goal is to park alongside the lock at the Kaskaskia River.  It should be a little over 40 miles, so we are 1/4 of the way.  We must keep our radio tuned to channel 13 in order to know about the barge traffic.  We no longer have lots of bouys to mark our channel so we really have to watch our maps.  Hopefully the wind will continue out of the north and all will go smoothly. 

Have a good week.  I'll blog when I can get power for the computer and a decent signal.

By the way, Rick has decided we should name our boat but is at a loss for ideas.  He sure was sorry this one had already been used.  Bye!!!!

We Made it to Alton

We left this small town marina early Thursday morning with the goal of reaching North Shore Marina in St. Charles, Mo for dinner with friends.  We realized while travelling that we have reached a few milestones so far as our journey is concerned.  We have now travelled over 500 miles of the Mississippi and we have slept on the boat over 20 nights.  Just about the time I think those are astounding stats, we meet someone who can beat it all to heck.  We are currently at the Alton Marina
where we have met "Loopers".  These are not the Saturday Night Loopers but people travelling up the coast and in the coastal waterways for months at a time.  One couple started last May and are now finishing the route we plan to take.  They have told us we should continue all the way to Florida and we would have no problems.  It is too bad you can't see the excitement on my face as I think about the possibility!!!

Judy met us for a few cocktails at the North Shore Marina on Thursday evening.  We all waited for Tony to arrive from work and then ate at Sharky's and began plans for a day travel together during the week.  If all goes as planned, they will meet up with us south of St. Louis on Tuesday evening and float with us to St. Genevieve.

We have a much better idea of how much time we need to reach certain points.  After this coming Monday, we have no more locks until the Tennessee River.

While at the North Shore Marine, we were parked near this pirate ship.  A young artist purchased a houseboat and then turned it into a pirate ship.  He takes cruises out on the weekend for a variety of groups.  Prior to our departure on Friday morning, a woman asked permission to walk on our dock (Ha).  She wanted to see the pirate ship as her son is getting married on it this Saturday.  It is now Saturday and the weather is great, we wish this couple much happiness and are wondering if the groom will wear an eye patch!

He also created this little boat which confirms our idea that he just might be a Parrothead.  He is looking to sell these boats and move to Florida to do the same thing.  I imagine he would have much more business with the weather down there.  The boats are certainly worth seeing, so check them out if you are in the St. Charles area.

We knew we were close to our destination when we saw this boat.  We have been here a number of times with my parents in the past.

We gave our daughter, Becki, a call and she stopped by to see us on her way home from work.  Our original plan was to go to my parents and start working on our many loads of laundry, but chose instead to venture up the hill to Fast Eddie's for some shrimp and a burger.  If you have never been to Fast Eddie's you need to put it on your list.  We have been there a few times and always enjoy it.  It amazes me the number of people this place can serve.  They keep track of customers each day and display the tally.  While there we met one of our blog followers.

This is a picture of Becki, Pam and Rick.  Pam is a teacher's assistant in Becki's class at school and heard about our trip from Becki. Becki also chose to spend the night with us on the boat.  She said it reminded her of her two month camping trip this summer.  She doesn't plan to stay with us tonight!



Today is a work day.  I'm sitting in my parent's home working on the blog and also doing laundry.  Later today Keith and Jill are to meet us at the boat in the marina and we will take them out for a ride.  Tyler and Travis will spend the night with us on the boat while everyone else with have beds in Florissant.

Hopefully Justin will get back from his football game to join us on an evening cruise.  They will be house hunting tomorrow while we will probably need to do shopping, etc. 

We have made plans to have my dad and brother travel with us on Monday and should spend the night at a dock just below the St.Louis Arch.  We hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll try to post again on Monday.

Barges Barges Everywhere!

We have travelled about 85.5 miles since leaving Quincy.  It has been filled with a variety of sites and activities.  I will start back as we left Quincy.  We were in no hurry to leave Quincy as we planned to travel only to Hannibal which was not far down the river and included only one lock.  We were excited as we had made plans with Roger and Pat Schultze to hook up in Hannibal so Roger could enjoy at least one day on the boat.  As you can see from this picture, we have rigged a system to drive the boat from the top.  Rick came up with this idea when the boat was still in the storage shed and it was Roger who became the "problem solver and implementer" of the system.  On nice days, this is by far the best place to travel.

We just made it under the railroad bridge as we entered Hannibal.  We called for clearance and had two feet to spare.  Rick stayed on top but I chose to stay below just in case I would have to cut the motor.  This is the spot Deb B. told us about watching some barges come apart, hit the bridge, etc.  No such excitement for us.

Pat and Roger stayed with us on the boat for two nights.  The first night we were docked at the Hannibal Boat Club.  Now I want you to know that most "boat clubs" on the Mississippi have a small building and a small dock.  We had no electricity, water, etc. except for our battery power.  We had quite a feast of burgers and beans (not so wise for four in a houseboat) and were joined by a couple of brothers travelling in slightly smaller crafts than ours.

This happens to be a view of one of their boats tied along side ours for the night.  They happened to find hotel lodging for the night.  Often they simply camp along the river and eat food cooked on what sounds like the old bunsen burners.  The way these guys travel made me really appreciate the houseboat!
We all took in the Hannibal sites on Tuesday morning.  We got into the Mark Twain mood and were really enjoying the nice weather.  The guys took off on their water journey while Pat and I went searching for an Orchard.
We were lucky to find our way to a great little place and while doing our shopping, the couple working there mentioned that there were a lot of barges backed up on the river near their home.  At that moment, I recalled that we had heard part of the river was to be closed due to dredging.  I hadn't thought any more about it until then.  Little did I know the impact of the river closure to all the barge traffic.

We stayed at a great marina across the river from Louisianna.  This is where the guys are used to pulling out when they do the two day river run in August.  They had great facilities for showers, bathrooms, etc.  Roger and Pat took off after breakfast and we headed out for another day.  Everything changed when we called lock and dam 24.  We could see the lock was full and we were told we would have about a two hour wait.  Well, our wait was closer to 3 1/2 hours and then when we locked through, we were in the lock with a tow.  This was a first for us.  You can see us following him out in the picture to the right.  While in the lock, the worker told us that in the pool (water between the two locks) there were approximately 28 barges and dredging boats.  Our simple journey turned into a day of barge dodging along a very winding part of the river.  At least the weather was good and we had contacted a marina for dockage that night.

This is part of the equipment that is being used on the river and has caused all the barge traffic to back-up.  It is simply amazing to watch but it has caused some real headaches.  Our marina was a little dock near a small campground where people live in their campers.  It was nice they gave us an extension cord so we had some electricity.  This place reminded me of some of the small towns we see in movies where out-of-work, meth addicts live.  I think it is in the territory where children attend the school district our soon to be son-in-law works.  INTERESTING!

We are currently waiting for another barge to lock through.  We were told two hours like yesterday.  At least today we have some phone signal.  Tonight we should be in St. Charles to meet a few more friends.  We hope to make it before dark. 
Not enough charge left to proof and edit this post, so I hope it all made sense.  Take care everyone.

A Few Rainy Days

We  departed from Montrose at approximately 9:15 Saturday morning.  It was hard to leave our friends but it was certainly time for us to get back on the boat OR we may have decided not to return to the journey.
(only kidding, of course)

Locking through Lock and Dam #19 Keokuk was quite an experience.  It was a 40 foot drop and had was called a floating bollard.  We were wondering what this was and finally experienced it.

Instead of each of us hanging on to a rope as the water is let out of the lock, you simply put a rope around the "floating bollard" and the boat lowers with the water as the float lowers.  This lock was a 40 foot drop, by far the biggest drop we've had yet.  Check out some of the view from inside.  It was just a little creepy.

This lock was much longer than usual which gave us quite a view.  It was almost as exciting looking out the back because of its size.

I don't think we will have this type of lock again until we reach the St. Louis area and then we will have a couple.  Hopefully we will have good weather and not much wind when we go through.  The wind seems to effect us as much as anything.

We had intended to stop at a famous little spot in MO called the Purple Cow but instead saw the place below as we were travelling and decided to stop. Good sandwiches and a neat little spot.







The water began getting choppy as the day progressed and we were not making the time that we had planned.  We had to pass through a second dam and were unsure if we could make it to Quincy before dark.  We both agreed that we did not want to be on the water after dark.

We ended up parking at a courtesy dock in the town of La Grange, MO.  It was about a block from the town's Casey's and although we had no electricity, it was a nice place to stay.

It rained during the night and continued through the morning.  We decided to continue to Quincy to stay in a marina so we could at least have electricity.  We found a local marina where they were having an "antique boat show" and riverfest.  Our boat does not qualify as an antique, but it was fun visiting with boat owners and visitors.  Many people here are from St. Louis and they helped us with information about the trip ahead.  We do have electricity but do not have wonderful bathroom facilities as in some marinas.

We have been told that the marina in Hannibal is closed because they are dredging.  We are hoping to find a dock to spend a little time in the area.  From there we continue to Louisianna, MO.  We spoke today with a friend from Chenoa who is going to try to meet up with us sometime soon.  We always enjoy the company.  Hope everyone has enjoyed the rain and that we soon have sunshine again.

NOW I CAN TALK ABOUT IT!!!!

This was a delightful place where we dined Sunday night in Bulington, IA.  We were still very happy to get started on our journey Monday morning.  I am unsure if you can see, but the water is very calm.  It didn't take much time for the wind to pick up, and blowing from the South, it gave us a very uncomfortable ride.

Deb, Gene, Rick and I spent most of the day INSIDE the cabin as the water kept splashing up over the front of the boat.  As you can see by the life jacket, although they are smiling, it was a little tense for all of us.
When we realized that the little motor just wasn't getting us anywhere; we got both the motors going.  This helped slightly, but the waves put tremendous pressure on the mountings of the small motor.  It is important that we not lose this motor into the river!

We did pretty good until we got to Fort Madison and had to wait for them to open the railroad bridge.  We had to wait for two trains and a tow to go through before we slowly made our way through the opening.  We have no doubt that anyone waiting to cross the bridge, cursed silently (loudly) about how long it was taking the houseboat to get past the bridge!  Once on the other side, we took a short break and pulled into a marina for a sandwich.  I'm thinking this was about 2:00. The time we actually thought we'd be in Montrose!
While eating our sandwich and trying to summon up our courage, we met our friendly canoeist. He was giving it up for the day.  Luckily, we had a place to spend the night (if we could make it) but he was looking for a place to camp.  Ft. Madison doesn't have much for riverfront facilities so we are unsure what he chose to do. 
We got back on the boat with hopes of a better second part of the trip.  HA, HA.  The water just seemed angry at all of us.  The sun didn't seem to be bright, even thought it was nearly 90 degrees.  We had to keep many windows closed due to the blowing water.  All my nice, clean windows look like crap!  Oh, well, we were all safe and that was what was important.

Wishing we were on a nice, big boat like this one parked in Ft. Madison, we continued with an optimistic attitude.  Then came a spot where the river takes a major turn around the Nauvoo. Like some type of miracle, the river calmed. Now, some of you may know Nauvoo has a sacred Mormon temple, so we are unsure if this had any influence on the day's events or not.  All we know is the water began to CALM.

We were greeted by the Breitenstein's on their dock.  It was so gracious of them to let us keep our boat there for a few days so we could do laundry, do some shopping, and take a short visit to see family. 

And now it is Friday and we should be back on the water.  As we already know, plans are just meant to change.  The boat needed to be moved because the Breitensteins are putting in a seawall, which is really cool but not good for having a houseboat tied up to the dock.  Luckily there is a community dock they are letting us use only a few yards from their home.  Rick decided he needed to do more motor reinforcement, following our Monday adventure, and the construction is taking longer than usual due to the rain, etc.  I am so glad he has his friend Gene to help him with this project.  This also gives Deb and I extra time to catch up and do wedding talks as we both have girls getting married this winter.
Tonight?  We were supposed to be heading to Quincy but it looks like it will wait until morning.  We had hoped to meet another friend, Brandon, in the Keokuk area, but he's too good of a coach and has a team in regional/sectional play on Saturday, so we will miss him. GO PONTIAC!

Proabably a nice dinner with the Kapps (and soon to be Brandenbergers) tonight and an early departure in the morning.  I am planning to travel outside the boat, like Gene is in this picture, most of the day. 

Have a great weekend, everyone. 

Beautiful weekend! Fierce water Monday!

Saturday and Sunday were by far the most beautiful days of the trip thus far.  It was also the time for many "firsts".  We travelled 44.5 miles on Saturday and passed through two locks.  There was no wait either time nor any barges to deal with coming in or out.  It was exciting in Lock # 17 as it was the first time we just floated inside the lock rather than hold on to the ropes.

Saturday also gave us our first airplane buzz.  This plane came down upon us twice and although we thought it was going to land it didn't.  It was truly a hoot to have any airplane pilot wave to us.  Perhaps our rig attracted his attention.  This could be because it was the first day we sat on top of the boat and drove from there.

Rick and Roger S. rigged this driving system up long ago but the water had really never been nice enough to ride on top.  The weather was so great on Saturday and Sunday that we spent most of our time above.  The only issue was when we met a barge in a very narrow part of the channel and had to hang back for awhile.  We both felt more comfortable back in the cabin.

We spent the night pulled up in the mud near a little campground in Keithsburg, IL.  We met some wonderful people and talked to a few men who have done this trip.  In fact, it always seem to be the men who have done this trip, no women.  Of course, at least Rick's dream wasn't to do this trip in a canoe!  The guy below started in Minnesota and we have travelled along at close to the same pace for the past few days. He plans to make it to New Orleans rather than taking a left on the Ohio to go towards the Tennessee River.



We made it to Burlington, Iowa on Sunday at a very nice time of day.  This is the town where Rick and I bought our first house.  Rick was very excited to get the motorcycle off the boat and scope out the town.  Ahh, memories!  Ahh, the problems begin! 

 That wonderful motorcycle, the one people have offered to buy for all the way down the river, cut out on him while he somewhere.  He has tried a number of repairs but none have seemed to work.  His day really started badly on Monday when thought the cycle would work and took it to get a few things from the store. He forgot his wallet and had to push the motorcycle back to the boat!!!!

Luckily, we had friends from Keokuk coming to ride with us for a day and that eased the motorcycle pains a bit.

I must explain that our friends from Keokuk love boating but Gene is slightly uncomfortable with the motion of the water, barges, etc.  We had called Saturday to arrange this lovely day assuring them the weather and water had just been wonderful the past few days and it would be a perfect ride from Burlington to Montrose.  The first 1 1/2 hours were great!  Deb and I sat on the front of the boat, took in some sun, laughed and caught up on events from the past few weeks.  Rick was turning over the driving to Gene and they were also laughing and having a good time.

Rick mentioned we might want to move indoors as the waves were beginning to pick up and we might get wet.  We didn't argue but thought it was a little silly.  Within a few minutes, we realized that the day was going to change course.  We just didn't want the boat to change course.

Tomorrow - more on Monday's adventure with pictures.  We are currently off the boat and slept on land for the first time in two weeks.  I rocked all night long (sea legs) and still am a little woozy this morning.  We plan to borrow a car and return to IL to do a little laundry and get a "grandkid fix".  We will return to the adventure later in the week.  I do not plan to abandon ship. 

Taken from above Sunday afternoon.  Approaching the bridge at Burlington, Iowa.  We could see for miles and miles.



First Houseboat Guests!

We began our day in LeClaire at one of the local attractions - American Archeology.  As you can see, Rick is enjoying himself.  It was fun seeing all the items we have seen pictured on the American Pickers.  They were telling us that it takes 12 hours of filming to get 20 minutes of the show.  Not everything is funny!

We put in a little time at the shops and waited for the new distillery to open.  This is a small one started by two brothers not very long ago.  They had a very nice tour, one room, and it was followed by a tasting room.  The company is Mississippi River Distilling Company and it is made by using all local products.





We have travelled only 25.5 miles in the past two days.  We spent Thursday night at the Isle of Capri Marina just below the Casino.  It was very inexpensive and we had water, electricity, showers, bathrooms, etc.  It is amazing how we look forward to REAL SHOWERS.  The kind we don't have to worry about how much water we are using.
While in Moline we took in the John Deere Pavilion and saw a huge dinner cruise boat.  Rick asked if I'd like to go on one of the excursions and I politely declined the offer!

Our goal Friday was to find Ducky's Lagoon on the Andalusia Slough without getting hung up on a wingdam.  We could see on the Nav charts that there was one but it appeared that boats travelled the area.  Our depth at one point was only 2 1/2 feet but after that it was smooth sailing.  We were on our way to meet with one of my former students, Eric and his two children, Lexie and Ryan.

Though many people have mentioned meeting us along the way, these 3 were our first houseboat guests.  This was also the first boat ride for Lexie and Ryan.  They loved checking out everything on the boat and we did give them a short ride in the slough.  Needless to say this event made us a little more homesick for Tyler and Travis, but when we returned from eating at Ducky's we had a phone message from the grandkids.  It must have been one of those mental telepathy moments.


We are currently travelling in the slough and it is just beautiful.  The water is very smooth, the sun is shining and it is just one of those "it doesn't get much better than this" moments. We don't have much on our agenda for the weekend.  The weather should be nice so there should be plenty of boaters on the water.  We have a few locks to pass through and are heading towards Burlington, IA. 
Have a great weekend everyone.